


Follow the steps and run for it

by Ibijau



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Low Self-Esteem, Sibling Jealousy, fem!Kili, it ain't directly relevant but she is, trans fem!Kili
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibijau/pseuds/Ibijau
Summary: Kili isn't her brother, and as such, she's never anyone's first choice.Doesn't stop her from having a good time whenever she can.





	

“So, does your brother have someone?”

Kili winced. She couldn’t help it. It had been a nice party so far, everyone dancing and rejoicing in the streets around the royal palace. She had been having great fun all evening, swirling among the dancers while Fili had chosen to take a place among the musicians. She’d had some cute partners, and some less cute ones, but most had been fairly good dancers and that had been enough to make her mood great. Then this beautiful girl had stuck with her for three dances in a row, pretty and graceful and with a smile that had made Kili’s knees a little weak… But then, at the end of the third dance, the usual question.

The girl must have felt she’d said something wrong, because after a short silence she giggled sweetly.

“Oh, I loved dancing with you! But it’s so odd that he’s not dancing… why is he staying with the old people? Does he have a jealous lover?”

“Fili doesn’t much like dancing,” Kili half lied. “At least, not unless he has the right partner”

“And what’s the right partner then?” the girl asked, her tone too innocent even as her eyes sparkled.

Kili took another look at her. She was not Fili’s type. Not that she’d ever been sure what her brother’s exact preferences were, but she somehow knew what they weren’t. The girl was too tall, too smirky, too outgoing and ready to laugh or flirt. She was Kili’s type type instead, and Kili had had such fun dancing with her, she’d had… hopes. That determined her next words. Cruel words, though only she knew it.

“The right partner would have to ask him I suppose,” Kili replied with a smile that was almost a snarl. “Go if you like, I’ll find myself someone else for the next dance.”

Not that she was in the mood for fun anymore, but she refused to stay and wait for leftovers. Never again. And she hoped against all reason that the girl would stay, would choose her for the next dance, and the next, until they danced only together for the rest of this shortest night of the year…

Instead the girl smiled and chuckled, and said something about just having to try her chance with both princeling, for good luck. Kili watched her go, watched her make her way to Fili, interrupting him… If Kili had wanted the girl to have her dance, she would have told her to never interrupt Fili’s violin. And if she’d been kinder to her brother, she wouldn’t have sent some stranger to bother him when she could see how happy he was with his music.

Well, Kili had never been the  _ nice  _ one anyway.

As expected, the girl got turned down. But because she’d dared to go talk to Fili, to be the first to try her chance, others followed soon after her, and Fili had to put down his violin. Seeing that, Kili felt a pang of guilt. Being in the mood to see others as annoyed as she was, well, that was one thing. Ruining her brother’s fun on the other hand… But that was easy to solve. She went to join Fili and his admirers, shamelessly pushing them aside so she could hug her brother.

“Back off, people,” she ordered with the cockiest smile she could manage. “You’re disturbing the musician here. Now, if you all want to dance with a very attractive royal princeling of royalness, you’ll all be very happy to know that I am here for you.”

It got her some laughter, but not as much as she’d have liked. Charming wasn’t working.

“Really though, I’m your only chance here,” she insisted, her smile turning into a smirk. “It’s me or nothing, because my brother has volunteered to play tonight, and he’s not getting out of it. I’m not letting him escape his chores. So either you’ll go for the consolation prize, or you can all piss off.”

Some more laughter, but also a few dark looks. It worked though. Some people left, clearly angry at being addressed so rudely, and those who stayed started chatting to her. She also caught Fili’s weak smile as he started playing again, but that only made her feel more guilty. He might not have been so grateful if he’d known she had been the source of this problem. Well, she wasn’t about to tell him, so he’d probably never know. 

Kili turned to the first of her brother’s admirer, a dwarf about half her size but twice as broad as she was, and she pulled him to dance with everyone else. The night was not over and pride be damned, she might end up having fun with some of Fili’s leftovers after all.

She danced a couple dances, always keeping an eye on her brother, always making sure nobody else was bothering him. It made the night less fun, meant she couldn’t focus on the steps and the sheer joy of movement… but that was the price to pay for having behaved like a pest.

At some point, her legs started hurting, and Kili had to think of taking a break. Past experience told her that they had to be well past midnight. Most people would soon go home, at least those who weren’t crazy and wild young things like her. As far as she was concerned, the real fun was about to start, people dragging one another in whatever dark corner they’d find to continue the fun with another type of dance… many couples met on midsummer night, and there tended to be many children born in the middle of spring, because not everyone was careful.

Kili had almost reached a bench when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. On sheer instinct she tried to step hard on the offender’s foot and to elbow them in the guts. The first she managed but not the second, the other dwarf somehow avoiding her despite how close he was and laughing at her attempt.

“Damn, you are a fierce one!” he said. “Come on girl, I’m not attacking you here, I just want my chance at a dance before you go to bed, that’s all!”

Still tense and ready to fight, Kili took a look at the dwarf holding her wrist. A man, just a few years older than her but enough she couldn’t have called him a boy. He had a strong nose, and bright red hair done in the most extravagant do she had ever seen, and the cockiest smile of all. As another point in his favour, he let go of her wrist and put on an apologetic face, though one that retained enough cockiness and insolence that Kili had to fight not to smile.

“Most people just ask when they want to dance,” she said, as coldly as she could. “Don’t much like being grabbed in the street by the first drunk idiot who think I owe him a dance.”

“Ain’t drunk, ain’t thinking you owe me anything,” the man protested. “Bit of an idiot though, or so my brothers say. Also I’m a better dancer than anyone you’ve danced with tonight, if I do say so myself. Probably a better dancer than anyone you’ve ever had, really.”

Kili smirked and crossed her arms. She was an avid dancer, craving any chance for fun and never missing any official celebration she could attend or party she could sneak into. She wasn’t the best dancer around, she knew it but she was pretty sure she’d danced with all the best.

“Pretty bold boast, man.”

“I can live up to it, lass,” he retorted, offering her his hand.

Kili’d been so tired just a moment before, her legs heavy and somewhat painful… But now she found she still had some energy left, and it’d be a shame not to use it. Either the dwarf was as good as he claimed, and she’d have a good time… or he wasn’t, and she’d get to mock him for his empty boast. Both seemed fun. She took the offered hand.

They threw themselves with the other dancers. Much to Kili’s delight, the other dwarf was every bit as good a dancer as he’d claimed to be, lively and graceful and always perfectly in time with the music. When the dance ended, Kili was laughing breathlessly, and her partner’s eyes were sparkling.

“Another?” he offered.

“I’d love to,” she laughed. “Just let me check something first.”

Her eyes searched for her brother. He was still with the other musicians, happy with his violin. There was a boy their age sitting almost at his feet, but Fili didn’t seem bothered by him, and the boy looked like he was there for the music more than for a chance to bother a prince. She felt a little guilty that she hadn’t once glanced at her brother this whole dance, but that was a testimony to her partner’s skill that she’d just forgotten.

“Let’s do this,” she said when the music picked up again, something more lively this time, perfect to further test the other dwarf’s skill.

“So, do you have a name?” he asked as they started moving. “Or are you too nob to give it to just any commoner who has a dance with you?”

“I’m Kili.”

“Like the princess, uh? Guess it must have been a popular name after her birth.”

“Not so much,” Kili said dryly, losing the rhythm for a second and almost stepping on his foot. “Now Fili, that’s a name who can give it to their child, gave it.”

The other dwarf shrugged, and pulled her closer. He changed the steps of the dance, still following the music but moving in a way Kili had never learned before.

“That prince boy sounds boring,” he claimed. “I don’t much like nobs who try to act all good and nice and pretend they’re more perfect than the rest of us. What I do like however is someone who knows to have some real fun… and you dance like a street rat, not like a fancy girl with pretty little silver claps in her hair.”

“Sorry.”

“Meant it as a compliment. Street rats know real fun when they see it. My name is Nori, by the way. Rattiest street trash you’ll ever meet, at your service for the night.”

Kili grinned. “And I bet that’s meant as a compliment to yourself, eh? Thought so,” she snickered when Nori nodded proudly. “Hey, that’s not how you’re supposed to dance on this, you know…”

“Pretty boring if we only did what we’re supposed to, no? That’s more how they move in the Orocarni, but put to the music we have here. Think you can follow me, lass?”

Kili believed she could. The steps were unfamiliar, and some of Nori’s movements were positively indecent, but she was quick to pick up the general feel of the thing. The result was a dance more sensual than anything she’d ever dared before, and that took a lot of strength to perform. Her muscles screamed and ached but she pushed herself hard as she could until the music ended and she all but fell into Nori’s arms, laughing.

“You were right, you  _ are  _ the best dancer I’ve met so far,” she gasped, struggling for breath but still laughing from the cheer joy of that dance.

“You ain’t so bad either, lass,” Nori chuckled, half carrying her to a bench. “D’you think we can have another round when you’re rested enough?”

“Don’t know, think you broke me,” she giggled. “That was fun though. I’ll wait for you here, if you want to go dance again.”

Nori smiled, and sat down next to her. “Think I’ll wait with you, if you don’t mind. From what I’ve seen, there’s not a dancer around that’d be half as fun as you. Everyone in these parts just seems too tame, you know?”

Kili had been told more than once that she should be more reserved and calm in her dancing (in all fun things she enjoyed, really) and it was a little odd to hear that treated as a good thing. Odd, but not unpleasant.

“I’ve been to less rich parts of the city for midsummer night,” she said. “Poor folks don’t seem much more wild than us when they dance, so don’t go talking about these parts, eh?”

Nori shrugged, and somehow managed to smoothly move a little closer to her at the same time.

“Nobody in Ered Luin knows how to have proper fun,” he claimed, “except maybe the two of us. Bree, now. You ever been to Bree? There’s mostly Men down there, but they got a couple hobbits too, and these little bastards sure know how to throw a party. You don’t know fun until you’ve been around halflings, trust me.”

“Travelled much, uh? You mentioned the Orocarni too.”

“I’m a dwarf of many talents,” Nori sneered with a little bow. “My family lived in Bree for a long while. We’d ended up there during the wandering years, and when Ered Luin became a thing, we didn’t have to money to get there. Then my mam and brother started a shop there and they just didn’t want to move, until my other brother turned out to be too clever for all of us, and we had to get him a good, dwarven teacher.”

“And the Orocarni?” Kili insisted. “I’m not to impressed by Bree. My uncle and brother have gone there for business a couple times, it’s going to take a little more if you want me in awe.”

“Sassy lass,” Nori sniggered. Somehow, he was now sitting so close to her that their thighs were touching. Kili should have minded. She didn’t. “Okay, so I got in a big argument with my older brother. I might have been caught poaching on someone’s lands one winter. Those Men, they get these weird ideas that somehow they can own not just land, but every creature that lives on it. My brother wasn’t too happy, and my mam wasn’t either, and there just happened to be a group of dwarves in Bree who were heading East…”

“You went to the Orocarni to get out of a fight with your family?” Kili laughed. “That’s pretty wild as a way to avoid confrontation.”

He shrugged again, and she laughed harder. 

“You have siblings, lass?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t go that far to avoid my brother. I did run away from home for two days once because I didn’t want to admit I was the one who’d put a dent on his favourite axe.”

She grimaced at the memory, and then again when she realised she once again hadn’t check on her brother in a while. She stood up on shaky legs and looked for him. Fili was still with the musicians,but he had put down his violin and appeared to be chatting with the boy who had sat near him earlier. It worried her for a second, but Fili was smiling and he seemed to be having fun.

“Who’s that over there?” Nori asked, one arm somehow finding its way around Kili’s hip.

“Boy with the sweater? Don’t know, I’ve never seen him before.”

“Not him, the blonde with the violin.”

And that was it. Something icy cold started forming in Kili’s guts, the dreadful feeling that no matter how nice this whole thing with Nori had been, it would be over now that he’d seen Fili. No one stuck with her when they knew her brother. And why would they?

“That’d be my brother Fili,” she sighed tiredly.

Nori frowned, squinting his eyes to try and get a better look of Fili even at that distance. “Say, is it common among nobs in these part to copy royal names, or are you and your brother the actual princelings?”

“Yeah. Princess Kili of Erebor, that’d be me,” she grumbled. “I didn’t mean to hide it, I just… most people know what I look like.”

“Well, first time I’ve danced with a princess,” Nori admitted, turning to look at her once more, his hand still on her hip. “Wouldn’t mind doing it again. And I bet flirting with a princess can be lots of fun too. But your brother… is he really as stupidly good and honest as people say he is?”

Kili clenched her fists. “Why do you care?”

“I care ‘cause that’s my baby brother he’s chatting with.”

Kili looked at him with wide eyes, and turned again to where her brother and the boy were. There was some sort of a family air, now that she knew. The same nose at least, though the boy didn’t have any of Nori’s playful cockiness.

“I wouldn’t call my brother stupid on any account,” she said at last. “But I know he’s not a flirt. Heck, I don’t even know how your brother managed to get him to chat, but he must be doing something right because Fili isn’t even looking for a way out.”

“Ori’s not much of a flirt either,” Nori retorted. “He’s too sweet and perfect for that. Usually, he gets flirted at, you know?”

Kili nodded with a grimace. Well, these two had a common ground then. Good for them. And if Fili could go and have some proper for once, then that was all Kili could wish to him. As for herself… well, her legs had recovered enough, she decided.

“So, you still feel like dancing?” she asked Nori. “Or do you want to go play the protective big brother instead?”

Nori hesitated. He didn’t like to see anyone talking and smiling at his baby brother the way Fili was doing, that much was clear. But when he looked at Kili their eyes met and he must have seen something he liked, because his cocky grin finally returned.

“How often can I hope to dance with a princess?” he sneered. “And one that dances like a true bred street rat, too? I’d be a fool to miss that chance, even if it means the evening won’t end quite how I’d hoped.”

His arm still around her hip, Nori pulled her back among the dancers.

“And what was it you’d hoped?” Kili asked as they let the music dictate their movements once more.

“To finish the night in some dark corner with a girl who likes to have fun,” Nori said with a predatory smirk, pulling her close, his hands on her back for a second, high enough to not be on her ass, low enough to hint it could be a possibility… That lasted for half a second, maybe less, before Nori’s hands moved away. “I had little chance of that happening with a normal nob,” he admitted. “With a princess? I’m not stupid. And I don’t even mind. Dancing’s fun already when it’s with the right person.”

“Well, I’m more street rat than princess,” Kili retorted, warmth flushing through her. “I’m never against a bit of fun, for sure. And there’s more than one way to dance, and many dark corners…”

Nori looked pleasantly surprised, and Kili couldn’t help a grin. It wasn’t proper for a princess to take lovers, it was something commoners did, people who didn’t have to worry about their line of succession… She had gotten scolded more than once, and she’d learn to be a little more discreet, to make sure nobody would get with child, but she hadn’t stopped. Why would she have, when it felt nice and was fun? 

“Let’s finish this dance,” Nori offered. “And then… then we’ll see if you still feel like finding somewhere quiet, eh?”

Kili nodded, and let the music carry her again, following Nori’s steps, trying to match his movements. This was already the best midsummer celebration she could remember, and the night was only starting.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I think about Nori/Kili a lot. Or, well. Not a lot, but frequently enough. I just like the idea of these "bad" siblings becoming friends or more.  
> I might write more in this same verse, but then again, I might not. I feel there's a lot I could say on Nori and Kili if given the chance (not to mention Ori and Fili who are also getting to know each other in the background) so we'll see if my brain lets me. I hope this still works on its own.


End file.
